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In rail transport, a train is a vehicle or (more frequently) a string of vehicles capable of being moved along a continuous line of rails or other guideway for the purpose of conveying freight or passengers between points on a predetermined route. The train may be hauled or propelled by one or more vehicles designed exclusively for that purpose (locomotives) or may be driven by a number of motors incorporated in all or several of the vehicles (multiple units).

As of 2018^[update], there are approximately 1,052,000 kilometres (654,000 mi) of railway track in use worldwide. (World Bank (via Archive.org))

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Selected article of the week

Withdrawn pilot motor car L133 awaiting restoration at the London Transport Museum depot in 2005

Departmental locomotives on the London Underground consist of vehicles of a number of types which are used for engineering purposes. These include battery locomotives, diesel locomotives, electric locomotives, sleet locomotives, pilot motor cars and ballast motor cars. Pilot motor cars and ballast motor cars are generally vehicles which have been withdrawn from passenger service, but continue to be used by the engineering department. Pilot motor cars are used to move other vehicles around the system, while ballast motor cars are used to haul ballast trains and engineering trains. The first ballast motor cars were former trailer cars built for the Central London Railway in 1900, which were converted to motor cars for trials of the first multiple system to be used in Britain, and were retained for departmental use after 1903. These were followed by French and Hungarian Gate stock cars, built in 1906, which were converted in the 1920s and 1930s. The next batch consisted of 14 standard stock cars converted in 1953. Rolling stock reorganisation and replacement in the 1970s on the District and Metropolitan lines resulted in a number of surface stock cars being used for pilot motor duties. Subsequently motor cars of 1938 stock and 1960 stock were used for this purpose, and complete 4-car units of 1962 stock. The London Underground has also owned several departmental self-powered vehicles designed for other duties. These include a tunnel cleaning train, consisting of two 1938 stock motor cars and three purpose-built cars, which act like a giant vacuum cleaner, and can hold 6 tons of dust before the filter tanks need to be emptied. Three Plasser & Theurer track tamping machines were purchased in 1980, and two Unimog road-rail vehicles were obtained in 1983 and 1986, for use as depot shunters.

Recently selected: London Necropolis railway station - Lier Line - Hammersmith & City line

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Selected image of the week

Newly refurbished former South African Railways Class NG G16 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt steam locomotive number 143 built by Beyer, Peacock and Company pulls a passenger train on the Welsh Highland Railway departing Caernarfon with a train bound for Pont Croesor in August 2011.

Recently selected: Great Northern Railway 4-2-2 and train - Solkan bridge - BNSF Railway freight train

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Did you know...

...that the opening ceremonies of the Galway to Clifden railway were very sparsely attended because the event date was a strict church holiday and was reserved for attending church services?
...that following heavy damage to the Galveston Island Trolley track and cars from Hurricane Ike in 2008, substitute service with replica buses was operated until service resumed in October 2021?
...that although the former Santa Fe Railway's Galesburg station was demolished after regular passenger service to the station ended in 1996, the site is still used if derailments cause trains to use the Chillicothe Subdivision instead of the Mendota Subdivision?
...that the Fuzhou–Xiamen railway, which opened in 2010, was so heavily used that it reached capacity in 2015, spurring construction on the parallel Fuzhou–Xiamen high-speed railway for CRH passenger train services?

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Selected anniversaries

May 13

Map of the Mecklenburgische Eisenbahngesellschaft in 1905

1850 – The Mecklenburgische Eisenbahngesellschaft (map pictured) opens the Rostock-Bützow-Bad Kleinen and Güstrow-Bützow railway lines in northern Germany.
1903 – The Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad (later to become part of Chicago and North Western Railway) begins passenger train service to Casper, Wyoming.
2002 – The Shramjivi Express, traveling from New Delhi to Patna, India, strikes a sabotaged section of rail and derails at Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, killing 12 people. See: Jaunpur train crash.
2005 – Former CEO of BNSF Railway, Robert Krebs, and former United States Federal Railroad Administration Administrator, Jolene Molitoris, both join the Board of Directors for Railpower Technologies.

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Train News

Santa Fe No. 2926 at Albuquerque, New Mexico
July 24, 2021 – Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe No. 2926, a 4-8-4 steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1944, moves under its own power for the first time since Christmas Eve of 1953, after nearly twenty-two years of being rebuilt by volunteers. The locomotive will be put into mainline excursion service. (NMSL&RHS, Trains Magazine on Facebook)
Big Boy No. 4012 at Steamtown National Historic Site
May 5, 2021 – Steamtown National Historic Site completes thorough cosmetic overhaul on Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy No. 4012, which is moved back on static display before National Train Day. (NEPA Scene)
The derailed Taroko Express trainset, as seen from outside the entrance to the tunnel
April 2, 2021 – 2021 Hualien train derailment – A Taroko Express train operated by the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) derails at the north entrance of Qingshui Tunnel in Heren Section, Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan, killing 49 people and injuring at least 200 others. North of Hualien City a construction truck had fallen down a slope onto the tracks. The eight-carriage train derailed after colliding with the truck, and then came to a rest in the tunnel, with severe damage and many casualties. (Bloomberg, CNN, CNA, New York Times, Financial Times)

The preserved C&O 1309 at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in October 2009

December 31, 2020 – Following a complete restoration, Chesapeake and Ohio 1309, a 2-6-6-2 Mallet locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949, the last steam locomotive built by Baldwin for the North American market, is operated under its own power for test runs. When returned to service on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, it will be the largest steam locomotive in regular scheduled service in the United States and take 2-8-0 No. 734’s place as the largest active steam locomotive in the state of Maryland. (Trains.com Newswire)

An Avelia Liberty train on a test run in Delaware in May 2020

September 28, 2020 – Amtrak operates a test run using one of the 28 new Avelia Liberty trains manufactured by Alstom along the full length of the Northeast Corridor to Boston South Station. Previous test runs had occurred from Washington, D.C., only as far north as New Jersey and Delaware. Barring any problems, the trains are expected to enter regular service on the route in 2021. (Universal Hub)

Berryessa/North San José station on the first day of service

June 13, 2020 – The Bay Area Rapid Transit Silicon Valley BART extension opened its stations in Milpitas and North San Jose. (San Jose Spotlight, SF Gate)

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General images

The following are images from various train-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Variety of rolling stock in rail yard (from Rolling stock)
Image 2A freight car (boxcar type) for the South Australian Railways, 1926 (from Railroad car)
Image 3Most derailments, such as this one in Switzerland, are minor and do not cause injuries or damage. (from Train)
Image 4A British Rail Class 150 in the United Kingdom (from Railroad car)
Image 5A narrow gauge battery-electric locomotive used for mining (from Locomotive)
Image 6Werner von Siemens experimental DC electric train, 1879 (from Locomotive)
Image 7British Rail Mark 3 coach, an all-steel car from the 1970s (from Railroad car)
Image 8Union Pacific 18, a gas turbine-electric locomotive preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum (from Locomotive)
Image 9An interior of a Circle line S7 Stock in London (from Railroad car)
Image 10A German DB Class V 200 diesel-hydraulic locomotive at Technikmuseum, Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 11Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25, 40 and 47 parked between duties. (from Rail yard)
Image 12Typical American extended vision caboose (from Railroad car)
Image 13A Tokyo Monorail train (from Train)
Image 14Armored train Hurban located in Zvolen, Slovakia (from Railroad car)
Image 15The "hump" of a hump yard. Railcars travel past retarders, which control their speed, and are directed onto tracks to be assembled into new trains. The control tower operates the retarders. (from Rail yard)
Image 16A large Amtrak and Metra coach yard just south of Chicago Union Station. About 25 percent of all rail traffic in the United States travels through the Chicago area. (from Rail yard)
Image 17A narrow gauge train in Austria (from Train)
Image 18China operates an extensive high speed rail network. (from Train)
Image 19Trains carrying hazardous materials display information identifying their cargo and hazards. This tank car carrying chlorine displays, among other markings, a U.S. DOT placard showing a UN number that identifies the hazardous substance. (from Train)
Image 20An early Diesel-mechanical locomotive at the North Alabama Railroad Museum (from Locomotive)
Image 21Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River. The two tracks on the left are the mainline. (from Rail yard)
Image 22Soviet RT-23 Molodets ICBM launch train, in the St Petersburg museum (from Railroad car)
Image 23A number of maintenance vehicles at work on Metro-North Railroad (from Train)
Image 24Škoda Artic light rail train near the cathedral in Tampere, Finland (from Train)
Image 25The 1887 Daimler draisine (from Locomotive)
Image 26Bombardier ALP-45DP at the Innotrans convention in Berlin (from Locomotive)
Image 27Second-class compartment of a China Railways CRH1A-A train (from Train)
Image 28World's first useful diesel locomotive (a diesel-electric locomotive) for long distances SŽD Eel2, 1924 in Kyiv (from Locomotive)
Image 29A London Underground battery-electric locomotive at West Ham station used for hauling engineers' trains (from Locomotive)
Image 30The New Orleans Streetcar System is one of the oldest in the world. (from Train)
Image 31A Union Pacific freight train; high clearances enable double-stacked containers to be carried in well cars. (from Train)
Image 32Various types of railroad cars in a classification yard in the United States (from Train)
Image 33Inside a modern-day car from Finland (from Railroad car)
Image 34Pacific National diesel locomotives in Australia showing three body types, cab unit (front), hood unit (middle) and box cab (rear) (from Locomotive)
Image 35A Metropolitan line S8 Stock at Amersham in London (from Railroad car)
Image 36A gas turbine locomotive operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (from Train)
Image 37The Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power. (from Train)
Image 38Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons (from Train)
Image 39The 1902 Maudslay Petrol Locomotive (from Locomotive)
Image 40A passenger car of the China Railway, 2011 (from Railroad car)
Image 41US-style railroad truck (bogie) with journal bearings (from Train)
Image 42Electric train on Djursholmsbanan in Stockholm in the 1890s. (from Train)
Image 43Baltimore & Ohio electric engine, 1895 (from Locomotive)
Image 44A wooden toy train set from Swedish manufacturer Brio (from Train)
Image 45The Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen pioneered high speed rail service. (from Train)
Image 46Garratt locomotives in Zimbabwe (from Train)
Image 47A prototype of a Ganz AC electric locomotive in Valtellina, Italy, 1901 (from Locomotive)
Image 48A preserved armored train (from Train)
Image 49This map of Cedar Hill Yard in Connecticut shows a variety of different facilities, including receiving yards, departure yards, classification yards, and a repair yard. (from Rail yard)
Image 50This cab car includes a horn (top), a bell (top right), headlights (above the door), classification lights (red lights on side), and ditch lights (white lights on side). (from Train)
Image 51Southern Railway (UK) 20002 was equipped with both pantograph and contact shoes (from Locomotive)
Image 52A coach yard in Shanghai, China (from Rail yard)
Image 53A China Railways HXD1D electric locomotive in China (from Locomotive)
Image 54Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, by Claude Monet, 1877, Art Institute of Chicago (from Train)
Image 55A Victorian Railways R class steam locomotive in Australia (from Locomotive)
Image 56The EMD FT set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam. (from Train)